BioNews Review articles written by Ruth Pidsley:

Epigenetics has become something of a hot topic in recent years throughout the scientific community. 'Epigenetics: Linking Genotype and Phenotype in Development and Evolution', edited by Professors Benedikt Hallgrímsson and Brian Hall, reminds a new generation of molecular and systems biologists about the historical roots and scope of epigenetics... [Read More]

Forget 'you are what you eat'. Rather 'you are what your mother ate'. That is the dramatic message of the BBC's latest episode of Horizon 'The Nine Months That Made You', broadcast on Monday 22 August. The documentary was an account of the Barker Theory that birth weight determines health in later life... [Read More]

BioNews News articles written by Ruth Pidsley:

Scientists have shown that the effects of stress can be passed from one generation to the next via chemical changes to the DNA which turn genes on or off without altering the code itself.... [Read More]

Skin cells from four people with schizophrenia have been successfully reprogrammed into an embryonic-like state and then transformed into brain cells. The research, published in Nature, offers scientists a novel way to study the causes of schizophrenia... [Read More]

Stem cells have been successfully extracted from veins left over from heart bypass surgery. Scientists hope that such cells could be used in the treatment of future heart conditions by stimulating the growth of new arteries... [Read More]

A team of researchers at Newcastle University in the UK has been successful in attempts to transfer genetic material from one newly fertilised human egg to another without carrying over the egg's mitochondria (the energy-producing structures of a cell)... [Read More]

A team of researchers based at Ohio State University, USA, have used gene therapy to restore nerve and muscle function and prolong life in mice with a form of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a lethal childhood muscle-wasting disorder. Results from the study, published in the journal Nature Biotechnology, were so encouraging that the researchers hope to progress to human trials within two years... [Read More]

An international team of scientists have identified two genetic variants associated with fronto-temporal dementia (FTD), a common form of early onset dementia. The study, published in Nature Genetics, could help in the search for new treatments to tackle the disease.... [Read More]

Scientists have identified a genetic variant that may influence the rate at which a person will age. The finding, published in last week's edition of the journal Nature Genetics, could help identify which individuals are most susceptible to common age-related conditions, such as heart disease and Alzheimer's disease.... [Read More]

Infertility levels are rising faster in developing countries than in developed countries, warned experts speaking at the 'Updates in Infertility Treatment (UIT) 2010' conference in Seville, Spain, last week... [Read More]

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